Food Policy Council of San Antonio sponsors chicken coop...

1of16Emma Foster holds a chick in her hands near a chicken coop that her parents, Samantha and Jonathan Foster, built for their backyard chickens as The Food Policy Council of San Antonio sponsors their first self-guided tour of a dozen chicken coops within the city limits, called the San Antonio Chicken Walk on Saturday, Apr. 14, 2018. Organizers said there are a variety of different coops on the tour, ranging from a structure made of plain planks of wood to an ornate cottage with a front porch and white picket fence. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: Kin Man Hui, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

2of16A rooster keeps an eye of the hens as The Food Policy Council of San Antonio sponsors their first self-guided tour of a dozen chicken coops within the city limits, called the San Antonio Chicken Walk on Saturday, Apr. 14, 2018. Organizers said there are a variety of different coops on the tour, ranging from a structure made of plain planks of wood to an ornate cottage with a front porch and white picket fence. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: Kin Man Hui, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

3of16Science teacher Rubi de Hoyos and her daughter Marina have a look at the chickens and their coop at the San Antonio Food Bank as The Food Policy Council of San Antonio sponsors their first self-guided tour of a dozen chicken coops within the city limits, called the San Antonio Chicken Walk on Saturday, Apr. 14, 2018. The teacher said her school, Jim G. Martin Elementary, will be raising their own chickens by next week and wanted to get some more ideas for raising chickens by going on the tour. Organizers said there are a variety of different coops on the tour, ranging from a structure made of plain planks of wood to an ornate cottage with a front porch and white picket fence. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: Kin Man Hui, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

4of16A chicken perches inside a coop at the San Antonio Food Bank as The Food Policy Council of San Antonio sponsors their first self-guided tour of a dozen chicken coops within the city limits, called the San Antonio Chicken Walk on Saturday, Apr. 14, 2018. The Food Bank raises chickens for mostly educational purposes but they do give eggs away for consumption at their "Mobile Mercados." Organizers said there are a variety of different coops on the tour, ranging from a structure made of plain planks of wood to an ornate cottage with a front porch and white picket fence. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: Kin Man Hui, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

5of16Backyard chicken owners Samantha and Jonathan Foster display eggs that are laid by their seven chickens as The Food Policy Council of San Antonio sponsors their first self-guided tour of a dozen chicken coops within the city limits, called the San Antonio Chicken Walk on Saturday, Apr. 14, 2018. Organizers said there are a variety of different coops on the tour, ranging from a structure made of plain planks of wood to an ornate cottage with a front porch and white picket fence. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: Kin Man Hui, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

6of16Chickens are seen outside of Jonathan and Samantha Foster's chicken coop as The Food Policy Council of San Antonio sponsors their first self-guided tour of a dozen chicken coops within the city limits, called the San Antonio Chicken Walk on Saturday, Apr. 14, 2018. Organizers said there are a variety of different coops on the tour, ranging from a structure made of plain planks of wood to an ornate cottage with a front porch and white picket fence. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: Kin Man Hui, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

7of16A trio of chickens owned by Samantha and Jonathan Foster are seen in the Foster's backyard as The Food Policy Council of San Antonio sponsors their first self-guided tour of a dozen chicken coops within the city limits, called the San Antonio Chicken Walk on Saturday, Apr. 14, 2018. Organizers said there are a variety of different coops on the tour, ranging from a structure made of plain planks of wood to an ornate cottage with a front porch and white picket fence. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: Kin Man Hui, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

8of16Chicken peck for food in the backyard of chicken owner Daune Smith as The Food Policy Council of San Antonio sponsors their first self-guided tour of a dozen chicken coops within the city limits, called the San Antonio Chicken Walk on Saturday, Apr. 14, 2018. Organizers said there are a variety of different coops on the tour, ranging from a structure made of plain planks of wood to an ornate cottage with a front porch and white picket fence. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: Kin Man Hui, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

9of16Chickens graze for food in a wire mesh tunnel built by backyard chicken owner Daune Smith as visitors observe at The Food Policy Council of San Antonio's first self-guided tour of a dozen chicken coops within the city limits, called the San Antonio Chicken Walk on Saturday, Apr. 14, 2018. Organizers said there are a variety of different coops on the tour, ranging from a structure made of plain planks of wood to an ornate cottage with a front porch and white picket fence. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: Kin Man Hui, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

10of16Chickens make their way through a wire mesh tunnel built by Daune Smith as The Food Policy Council of San Antonio sponsors their first self-guided tour of a dozen chicken coops within the city limits, called the San Antonio Chicken Walk on Saturday, Apr. 14, 2018. Smith refers to the her creation as a chicken tunnel or "chunnel." Organizers said there are a variety of different coops on the tour, ranging from a structure made of plain planks of wood to an ornate cottage with a front porch and white picket fence. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: Kin Man Hui, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

11of16Backyard chicken owner Samantha Foster (left) talks with Cindy Miller and Brian Hanes near her chicken coop on Saturday, Apr. 14, 2018. Fosters coop and her chickens were part of the Food Policy Council of San Antonio's first self-guided tour of a dozen chicken coops within the city limits, called the San Antonio Chicken Walk. Organizers said there are a variety of different coops on the tour, ranging from a structure made of plain planks of wood to an ornate cottage with a front porch and white picket fence. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: Kin Man Hui, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

12of16A Jersey Giant hen called, Fella, surveys guests at the home of Samantha and Jonathan Foster as The Food Policy Council of San Antonio sponsors their first self-guided tour of a dozen chicken coops within the city limits, called the San Antonio Chicken Walk on Saturday, Apr. 14, 2018. Organizers said there are a variety of different coops on the tour, ranging from a structure made of plain planks of wood to an ornate cottage with a front porch and white picket fence. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: Kin Man Hui, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

13of16A chicken roosts in the coop owned by Daune Smith as The Food Policy Council of San Antonio sponsors their first self-guided tour of a dozen chicken coops within the city limits, called the San Antonio Chicken Walk on Saturday, Apr. 14, 2018. Organizers said there are a variety of different coops on the tour, ranging from a structure made of plain planks of wood to an ornate cottage with a front porch and white picket fence. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: Kin Man Hui, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

14of16A chicken makes it way into the coop built by Daune Smith as The Food Policy Council of San Antonio sponsors their first self-guided tour of a dozen chicken coops within the city limits, called the San Antonio Chicken Walk on Saturday, Apr. 14, 2018. Organizers said there are a variety of different coops on the tour, ranging from a structure made of plain planks of wood to an ornate cottage with a front porch and white picket fence. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: Kin Man Hui, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

15of16Backyard chicken owner Duane Smith (left) gives a tour to Gay Wright of her chicken coop and backyard garden as The Food Policy Council of San Antonio sponsors their first self-guided tour of a dozen chicken coops within the city limits, called the San Antonio Chicken Walk on Saturday, Apr. 14, 2018. Organizers said there are a variety of different coops on the tour, ranging from a structure made of plain planks of wood to an ornate cottage with a front porch and white picket fence. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: Kin Man Hui, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

16of16Guests entering Daune Smith's backyard to see her chicken coop are treated to a chalk-drawing of a chicken as The Food Policy Council of San Antonio sponsors their first self-guided tour of a dozen chicken coops within the city limits, called the San Antonio Chicken Walk on Saturday, Apr. 14, 2018. Organizers said there are a variety of different coops on the tour, ranging from a structure made of plain planks of wood to an ornate cottage with a front porch and white picket fence. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: Kin Man Hui, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

Cindy Miller and Brian Hanes, owners of Gimli the Iguana, had been mulling over adding more pets to their family, and the San Antonio Chicken Walk may have solved their dilemma.

They were among two dozen people who visited a colorful coop on the North Side Saturday morning called the Chick Mansion, one of a dozen structures on the chicken coop tour.

Hosts Samantha and Jonathan Foster greeted the couple with details about the blueprint for the coop they found online and tweaked to display an urban flair. The Fosters became backyard chicken owners four years ago when Jonathan Foster’s mother brought chicks as pets for their two children.

Miller and Hanes marveled at the chicken shelter’s bright blue siding, orange shutters and silver tin roofing. The hutch had multiple roosting points and three nesting boxes for its feathered flock that includes Beanie, a Cuckoo Maran, Fella, a Jersey Giant, and Betty White, a Babcock White Leghorn.

Jonathan Foster pointed out a wi-fi module that allows them to open and close an inside door remotely from their cell phones. Samantha Foster spoke about how they liked having fresh eggs each day and how poultry are an asset to the community. Miller said she was inspired by the Fosters’ passion for their brood.

“It’s so interesting and everyone is so generous,” Miller said of the tour. “I think they should make it a Fiesta event with a medal.”

Sponsored by the Food Policy Council of San Antonio, the self-guided tour took place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., spotlighting coops that ranged from cute cottages to rustic huts. Coop visitors started at Olmos Basin Farmers Market, 100 Jackson Keller Road, to receive a map of the dozen stops around the city.

One coop was at the San Antonio Food Bank, where visitors snapped photos of 21 chickens either donated or raised from chicks. The tour ended at the Pittman Sullivan Community Garden, 1111 Dakota St., with food and music.

More than 100 people took the trek, which highlighted recent changes in the city’s animal ordinance. In October 2017, City Council voted to increase the number of chickens allowed in the city limits without a permit from three to eight chickens, including one rooster.

“We couldn’t have something like this before the change,” Food Policy co-founder Leslie Provence said. “It really appeals to a lot of people, and we want to tie in more of the community, not just chicken folks.”

Organizers said they hope to make the tour an annual event like Austin’s Funky Chicken Coop Tour, Dallas’ “A Peep at the Coops” and the “Tour de Coop” in McKinney.

Local backyard chicken owners, Kim and Frank Rocha, said they were excited the city is finally on par with cities across the state and the nation.

“They can see what other people are doing,” Frank Rocha said, “and how they can apply it to their own plans to build a backyard coop.”

A trail of chalked, chicken foot prints led visitors to the Smith family’s coop. Daune Smith (pronounced Dawn) said her seven chickens and a rooster, named Hercules, are pampered by the cottage her husband Jef, a carpenter, built. The 4-foot-by-8-foot coop has red trim, two windows and a front porch with two chairs and a mini-white picket fence.

Vincent T. Davis started at the San Antonio Express-News in 1999 as a part-time City Desk Editorial Assistant working nights and weekends while attending San Antonio College and working on the staff of the campus newspaper, The Ranger. He completed a 3-month fellowship from the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute at Vanderbilt University in 2003 and earned his bachelors degree in communication design from Texas State University in 2006.